page_title: Island fox
section_title: Conservation status and Federal Protection
hierarchical_section_title: Island fox / Conservation status and Federal Protection
caption_attribution_description: English: Nova - an American golden eagle in the care of the Southeastern Raptor Center at Auburn University
context_page_description: The island fox is a small fox that is native to six of the eight Channel Islands of California. There are six subspecies, each unique to the island it lives on, reflecting its evolutionary history. Island foxes are generally docile, show little fear of humans, and are easily tamed. Island foxes played an important role in the spiritual lives of native Channel Islanders. Island foxes have been likely semi-domesticated as pets, used as pelts, or for other functions, like pest control.
context_section_description: In March 2004, four subspecies of the island fox were classified as a federally protected endangered species: The Santa Cruz island fox, Santa Rosa island fox, San Miguel island fox and the Santa Catalina island fox. As of 2013, the IUCN lists the entire species as near threatened, an improvement from its previous status of "critically endangered". A decline in island fox populations was identified in the 1990s. On San Miguel Island, the decline began in 1994, with the population falling from 450 adults to 15 by 1999. Similar population declines were discovered on Santa Cruz Island. On the Santa Cruz Island the population decreased from 2,000 adults in 1994 to less than 135 in 2000, and on Santa Rosa Island where foxes may have numbered more than 1,500 in 1994, but were reduced to 14 animals by 2000. In 2004, there were 38 San Miguel island foxes, all in captivity; 46 foxes in captivity on Santa Rosa Island and 7 in the wild (golden eagle predation prevented the release of captive foxes into the wild); Santa Cruz Island had 25 captive foxes and a stable wild population of around 100 foxes.
  Golden eagle predation, discovered when foxes were radio-collared and monitored, proved to be the cause of the high mortality rates. The golden eagle was an uncommon visitor to the Channel Islands before the 1990s according to data gathered by Dr. Lyndal Laughrin of the University of California Santa Cruz Island Reserve, and the first golden eagle nest was recorded on Santa Cruz Island in 1999. Biologists propose that the eagle may have been attracted to the islands in the 1960s after the decline of the bald eagle. The golden eagle replaced the bald eagle and began to feed on feral pigs following the decimation of the local bald eagle population due to DDT exposure in the 1950s — the bald eagle would have deterred the golden eagle from settling on the islands while it subsisted on fish.
  The feral pigs on Santa Rosa were exterminated by the National Park Service in the early 1990s, which removed one of the golden eagle's food sources. The golden eagle then began to prey on the island fox population. Feral pigs on Santa Cruz Island and deer and elk on Santa Rosa Island were introduced almost 70 years prior to island fox decline, therefore, the golden eagle most likely did not seek these animals as alternative prey. This has occurred most likely as a result of a process known as apparent competition: In this process, a predator, like the golden eagle, feeds on at least two prey, for example, the island fox and feral pigs. One prey item is adapted to high predation pressure and supports the predator population (i.e. pigs), whereas the other prey item (i.e. the island fox) is poorly adapted to predation and declines as a consequence of the predation pressure. It has also been proposed that the complete removal of golden eagles may be the only action that could save three subspecies of the island fox from extinction. However, the pigs on Santa Cruz Island were killed by the Nature Conservancy under the idea that they drew the eagles to the foxes.
  Introduced diseases or parasites can devastate island fox populations. Because the island fox is isolated, it has no immunity to parasites and diseases brought in from the mainland and are especially vulnerable to those the domestic dog may carry. A canine distemper outbreak in 1998 killed approximately 90% of Santa Catalina Island's foxes, reducing the population from 1,300 to 103 in 2000. A vaccination program has been initiated to protect Catalina Island foxes from canine distemper. After several years of carefully trapping the foxes and vaccinating them against distemper and rabies, their population has reached 1,717 in 2015, surpassing the pre-disease population of about 1,300. Scientists believe the distemper virus was introduced by a pet dog or a raccoon from the mainland that hitched a ride on a boat or a barge. To eliminate the risk of disease, pets are not permitted in Channel Islands National Park.
  Diminished food supply and general degradation of the habitat due to introduced mammal spec
caption: The golden eagle is four times the size of the island fox and can easily prey on it.
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